Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several New World herbs of the genus Helenium of the composite family, having yellow to red-purple rayed flower heads.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Australia, a dwarf, erect, odorous herb of the aster family, Centipeda Cunninghamii, considered a valuable specific for certain diseases of the eye.
  • noun A plant of the genus Helenium, mostly the common H. autumnale.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A yellow-flowered composite plant (Helenium autumnale) the odor of which is said to cause sneezing.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US A plant of the genus Helenium, especially Helenium autumnale.
  • noun Australia A plant of the genus Centipeda; either of the species Centipeda cunninghamii or Centipeda minima, which induce sneezing and are known as a folk remedy for colds and allergic reactions.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of various plants of the genus Helenium characteristically causing sneezing

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From sneeze + weed.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word sneezeweed.

Examples

  • I thought it was called sneezeweed because it bloomed at the same time as the notorious Ragweed and blame was misguided.

    Helen’s Flower « Fairegarden 2009

  • Whoever cares to learn from experience why this was called sneezeweed, must take a whiff of snuff made of the dried and powdered leaves.

    Wild Flowers Worth Knowing Neltje Blanchan 1891

  • Your sneezeweed is as pretty as you described Frances.

    Helen’s Flower « Fairegarden 2009

  • Powdered disk flowers and leaves of this species have in the past been dried and used as snuff, thus giving rise to the common name of sneezeweed.

    Helen’s Flower « Fairegarden 2009

  • I think sneezeweed might keep people from trying this wonderful plant.

    Helen’s Flower « Fairegarden 2009

  • This sneezeweed is an erect, clump-forming, Missouri native perennial which occurs in moist soils along streams, ponds or ditches and in spring-fed meadows, prairie and wet open ground throughout most of the State Steyermark.

    Helen’s Flower « Fairegarden 2009

  • Cuckoo bumblebee (Psithyrus insularis) searching for pollen and nectar on sneezeweed (Dugaldia hoopsii).

    Bumblebee 2008

  • Tijuana Brass autumn sneezeweed is a wonderful new perennial for the cutting garden.

    BellaOnline - The Voice of Women 2010

  • Tijuana Brass autumn sneezeweed is a wonderful new perennial for the cutting garden.

    BellaOnline - The Voice of Women 2010

  • As Hanson reflects on the season, she points out yarrow and sneezeweed (Helenium).

    LJWorld.com stories: News 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.